West Midlands aerospace and precision engineering group Hampson Industries has landed additional work worth an initial #40 million with pioneering American corporation Eclipse Aviation.

The five year contract has been awarded to the Brierley Hill firm's transparencies, composites and plastics division, based in the US.

Its aerospace fabrications and assemblies division, which takes in plants in Birmingham, already manufactures and supplies the complete aluminium empennage structure for the revolutionary Eclipse 500 very light jet (VLJ) from facilities in the UK and US.

Under the new contract, Hampson will supply composite aero structural components and assemblies for the Eclipse 500 on a just-in-time basis from the existing sites of its Texstars subsidiary, based in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Divisional managing director, Greg Frye, said yesterday: "We are delighted to have been selected by Eclipse to be part of this ground-breaking, high volume VLJ programme.

"This contract is a testament to our commitment to developing a lean culture, streamlined manufacturing processes, engineering capability, and our ability to innovate and solve demanding technical challenges and above all the dedication and skill of our employees."

Group chief executive Kim Ward added: "This contract further builds on the strength of our successful existing relationship with Eclipse.

"It also show-cases the strength and depth of our business and in particular our capabilities in the manufacture of advanced composite structures, for which we are experiencing a progressively increased demand from our aerospace customers.

"It is particularly pleasing to reflect on the continuing success of our growth strategy and our customers' endorsement of our decision to acquire Texstars, in December 2004."